So, the new battle could really be for the digital download charts. I see Virgin Radio will launch a digital download top 20 before the BBC chart that I previously mentioned. I imagine this could really start encouraging more people to buy music in digital form. It could be quite an interesting few months.
A year ago I wrote about ringtones and the large amounts of money to be made from them (as well as one of the current boyband stars of the time) and asked when we would see the first ringtone-only hit? Well, maybe not ringtones, but the music download industry in the UK is taking a step towards producing download-only hits when Radio 1 introduces the download chart from the start of next month. I think this is fantastic news and I will be interested to see how the record companies react.
Also about a year ago, I wrote about my first experiences with downloading music from the MSN Music Club. Well, I can tell you that a year on, I have bought, perhaps, ten tracks – mainly the odd chart hit jumps out at me. I’ve tried several services and find them all a little frustrating in one way or another.
Many download services don’t let you have the latest singles from an artist until they are falling down the regular charts. I assume this is to ensure that those fans who want the track will actually buy it and contribute to a chart position before the downloads (which don’t contribute to a proper chart position). So, although I do think this chart is a superb step forward, digital music will only be legitimised when it’s included with the full chart.
Maybe in twelve months I’ll be writing about that.